Intoxicating Music
by mockingbird13
Summary: Merlin starts his afternoon off whistling a merry tune to a bunch of birds. When his magic puts an edge to the music, things get a bit carried away.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I wrote this up one night to avoid actually starting an essay for one of my classes. Anyway, I thought I might as well post it. Hope someone enjoys reading this.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Merlin, and yes, I would like to. Is that more than a vague possibility? Nope.

Merlin plunked himself down in the grassy clearing, heaving a sigh of relief at the opportunity to relax without worrying about chores, murderous sorcerers, and demanding royalty.

Nearby, his horse, a sturdy piebald mare named Luca, cropped grass contentedly, almost as happy as Merlin to be away from the hustle and bustle of the castle.

Merlin had just been given his first afternoon off in weeks. The young warlock still hadn't figured out why Arthur had told him to take the rest of the day off, but he suspected it had something to do with Gaius. The physician had been frowning at him all week, nagging him to sleep and eat and be careful, all of which he'd been too busy to worry about.

Merlin lay back in the grass, resting his weight on his elbows and letting his lanky legs stretch out before him. He closed his eyes and let the sunlight wash over his tired body as he recalled the events of the past few days.

No less than three vengeful sorcerers and an angry chimera had attempted to kill Arthur in the past week. Two of the sorcerers had been killed-one while Arthur was unconscious nearby, and the other without Arthur even becoming aware that a sorcerer was in the kingdom. The third he had managed to talk out of assassinating the crown prince, revealing his identity as Emrys and assuring him that the prince would revoke the ban on sorcery when he became king.

Unfortunately, the chimera hadn't been as easy to dissuade. Now, three broken ribs and a row of healing claw marks later, Merlin was ready for a break. He'd managed to speed his healing with his magic, but he was still exhausted, and all this running about fetching laundry and mucking out the stables was not allowing him the time necessary to heal.

Keeping his eyes closed, Merlin hummed softly under his breath, a soft, _"Hmmmhm, hmm, hmmm, hm, hm, hmmm,"_ sparking an answering chorus from the birds resting in a nearby hazel tree; a sweet, _"Tsuuutsu, tsuu, tsuuu, tsu, tsu, tsuuu."_

Merlin smiled, and switched to whistling a different tune, a series of stuttering _'wiffs'_ interspersed with long drown out _'woos.'_ The cheerful birds mimicked him perfectly, and shot back another set of notes. Merlin matched their song beat for beat, and the birds twittered happily in their hazel tree.

Starting out slow, Merlin slowly built up a rhythmic set of lazy spiraling notes, increasing the tempo until he was whistling at a fairly constant pace. The birds joined in, singing in harmony, a few adding in a backdrop of alternating high and low notes.

Unconsciously, Merlin's magic amplified the song, until it permeated the forest with its oscillating rise and fall, filling the warm air with _'wiffs'_ and _'whirs'_ and _'woos'_ and _'tsus,'_ and all manner of similar sounds. The forest sang with the unique collaboration of birds and warlock, and the trees began to sway in time, leaves swishing in the sunlight, shadows and sunspots dancing across the carpet of sun-kissed grass and layered leaves.

Squirrels quit their chatter and whirled through the swaying treetops, pirouetting nimbly across branches and twirling about in acrobatic arcs, grey and red blurs amongst the emerald leaves and sable branches, drawn slowly to the clearing to dance energetically above the whistling warlock.

Deer stopped grazing, and stood still and silent, soaking in the harmonious melody. They drifted cautiously into the clearing, appearing beside Merlin's mare, Luca. Swaying as the music seeped into their graceful bones, they began to buck and dance, rearing onto fore and hind legs, dodging graceful kicks and tossing slim necks as they danced together to the infectious tempo, sure of foot and light in heart and body. Some of the bucks even added their own bass bellows to the backdrop. Luca felt some remembrance of her younger years stirring in her blood, and joined the jubilant deer as they circled the warlock.

Rabbits emerged shyly from the long grass and their carefully hidden burrows, twitching their long velvety ears in sync with the invigorating music. Young rabbits crept into the clearing, emboldened, and began to throw themselves into the air, spinning about in a whir of creamy brown fur and landing with soft thuds in the grass as they dove skillfully between the lithe limbs of the deer and the heavy hooves of the mare.

Soon the whole forest was singing and dancing, insects chirping and strumming, butterflies fluttering in time with dragonfly and faerie partners. Birds filled the clearing, singing and wheeling in and out of pace like airborne jewels. The grass was swaying hypnotically with the serpents and weasels at the edge of the clamor, the wolves rising from their dens to bark and howl and cavort with the deer, lithe gray shapes bounding to and fro amidst the bucking brown deer and piebald mare. Foxes yipped and twirled playfully with the rabbits, light-footed lengths of spirited flame springing and swirling in dizzying patterns. Even the grumpy badgers came out to sway a bit and soak in the merriment.

In the middle of this joyous chaos, friend and foe, predator and prey, all were woven together by the intoxicating harmony. And at the heart of it all lay Merlin, eyes still closed, magic painting vivid notes and flashes of the wild dance on the insides of his eyelids until the young Warlock felt compelled to open them.

At the impossible sight of all the woodland creatures dancing in harmony, Merlin's eyes widened, a smile blooming across his pale features. The music continued without his whistling, fueled now by magic, the notes almost visible against the darkening sky. With a wondrous laugh, Merlin rose, and joined in the festivities, dancing with the wild wolves and skittish deer until his lungs felt near to bursting, whirling about with the foxes and the rabbits until his head spun, and gradually wearing himself out in the general festivities.

Slowly, the tune began to wind down, notes pealing away and growing slower and slower, the dancers slowing with it. Then the final note rang out, clear and piercing. The dancers stilled, and dropped inelegantly in exhausted heaps, birds spiraling like fallen leaves, wolves draped over deer, rabbits cuddled up against foxes, squirrels snuggling with weasels, insects perched on various noses, faeries sprawled across serpents. Merlin flopped down as well, drifting into exhausted slumber, and the forest slept with him, tree branches drooping, grass slumping over, and the still air resonating with the snores and susurrations of the slumbering creatures in the clearing.

When Merlin awoke the next morning, the first thing he saw was a fox, the first thing he felt was the fox's tongue licking his face, and the third thing he noticed was the fact that he was surrounded by, and covered in, animals. Then the fox gave him a final lick and settled down against his head.

Merlin lay there and just concentrated on breathing for a while. Then he carefully craned his neck, without moving the rest of his body, and looked down at the rest of his previously sleeping form. The warm weight on his chest was a doe resting her head, the heavy warmth at his legs was a sleeping wolf, the squirming at his stomach was three squirrels and a rabbit, another fox was curled against one side, a weasel at the other, a serpent lay coiled atop his knee, and several birds were scattered about his person. And a naked faerie was swaying drunkenly atop his boot, giggling.

Merlin closed his eyes, and tried to remember how this had happened. He remembered singing with some birds, some trippy images, dancing, and exhaustion. Speaking of which, how long had he slept? He cracked open his eyes again, and saw that it was a new day. He groaned. Great, He'd slept through the night. Arthur was going to kill him. And Gaius would probably hold him still for it; especially after his many warnings about making it back at a decent time.

Merlin tilted his head to the side, and spotted Luca amidst a pile of wolves. He blinked, and returned to examining his chances of escaping the combined wrath of Gaius and Arthur. Before he'd gotten very far, a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and he yawned, eyelids sliding shut. Maybe just a quick nap would give him some more energy to think properly.

**End Note:** I might write a second chapter to this, where Arthur and maybe some of the knights stumble across this lovely little slumber party after searching for Merlin. Feel free to suggest any reactions or whatever comes to mind. :)


	2. Back in Camelot

**AN: **I know this is a bit of a short chapter, but I felt it was necessary to have a bit of Arthur's perspective before we get back to Merlin. So here you go, next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Sorry for the long wait, I just got a bit lost on the path of life ;)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Merlin, and if I did, it would have definitely had a happier ending.

Back in Camelot, Arthur was most certainly displeased. He'd woken to find his breakfast absent, his manservant nowhere to be found, and a heap of unpolished armor scattered across the floor.

Irritated, and in no mood to hunt down an incompetent servant, he'd scoured the castle, _and_ the nearby taverns, but Merlin was nowhere to be found. He'd tried Gaius first, but the physician had declared that he hadn't seen Merlin since yesterday afternoon, when he'd been given the day off. And his bed hadn't even been slept in the night before.

Now, not finding his irresponsible manservant passed out in a tavern or fooling around in the castle, Arthur began to feel the pricking of genuine worry twisting at his chest. Normally, he'd dismiss Merlin's absence as another of his attempts at shirking his duties. Lately, however, he'd noticed that Merlin was vanishing without a plausible explanation with alarming frequency.

And just the other day he'd caught the lanky servant clutching at his ribs after stumbling into his bedpost with a load of laundry. Arthur recognized pain when he saw it, and Merlin's white face and stiff movements spoke of something a bit more serious than a minor bruise.

Shortly thereafter he'd impulsively given Merlin the afternoon off, hoping he'd take the time to grab a proper meal and perhaps see to whatever was causing him pain. He wasn't as worried as he could have been, since he figured Gaius would see to whatever was bothering him. He was, after all, the court physician.

And yes, he _had_ given Merlin the afternoon off yesterday, but he'd also made it clear that he expected his breakfast some time the next morning–preferably on time.

Grasping at straws, Arthur set off to check the stables, half-hoping to find Merlin passed out in a pile of hay.

Upon arrival, he began checking the stalls. Finding no sign of Merlin, he almost left before noticing something–or rather, a lack of something. Luca, Merlin's steady old mare, wasn't in any of the stalls.

Almost smacking himself for not checking the stables sooner, Arthur grabbed the stable boy–Kevin, and demanded to know if he'd seen Merlin leave the stable sometime yesterday afternoon.

The frightened stable boy babbled that he had indeed seen Merlin leave with Luca, pointing in the direction he'd taken, and babbling rather incoherently in between.

Arthur felt a bit bad for scaring the boy, but his worry for Merlin overruled his patience for dealing politely with stable hands.

Releasing the shaken stable boy, Arthur strode purposefully towards the practice field, where he was supposed to be training the knights. Putting a bemused Sir Leon in charge of practice, he ended up leaving with a concerned Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan, and Percival, after his "impromptu hunting trip" excuse had fallen through and he was tricked into admitting that he was going out to look for a missing Merlin.

Unable to dissuade them from following him, and knowing that they'd be more than a little useful if Merlin was in any real trouble, the five knights set off towards the forest, quickly picking up Merlin's trail and hoping that nothing terrible had happened to the good-natured manservant.


End file.
